Fascinated with ancient civilizations, seventeen-year-old Mia Crawford dreams of becoming an archaeologist. She also dreams of wings—soft and silent like snow—and somebody trying to steal them.

When a horrible creature appears out of thin air and attacks her, she knows Michael Fontaine is involved, though he claims to know nothing about it. Secretive and aloof, Michael evokes feelings in Mia that she doesn’t understand. Images of another time and place haunt her. She recognizes them—but not from any textbook.

In search of the truth, Mia discovers a past life of forbidden love, jealousy and revenge that tore an angel from Heaven and sent her to an early grave. Now that her soul has returned, does she have a chance at loving that angel again? Or will an age-old nemesis destroy them both?

Now that she’s found him again, all Mia Crawford wants is some downtime with her fallen angel boyfriend, Michael. But the call of duty keeps him away—from school and from her—with more demons to smite than ever.

When Michael is mortally wounded by a cursed sword, Mia must perform an ancient blood ritual to save him. But the spell exacts a price. Haunted by visions of war, torture, and despair, Mia discovers the world is in more danger than she ever imagined. Behind the scenes, an evil adversary pulls all the strings.

Some people believe that writing is something you’re born with. It’s not. It’s craft. And like any craft, it can be learned. Becoming a better writer is a lot of work, but it’s well worth the effort.

Personally, I’ve been a professional writer for almost 20 years and an author for seven. I’m always working on getting better. Here are some of the things I’ve learned to do that helped me grow as a writer.

1.Read widely.

It may seem simple to say this, but writers are readers first. By reading widely, I also mean across many genres and forms. If you like genre fiction, make a point of reading poetry, literary fiction, or biographies. All of it will inform your own work.

The act of reading gives you a sense of story, of how characters come to life on a page, of the way words sound. If you read, you’ll come to know what you like from all the forms. Take the time to look at how the story is constructed, how poetry feels. Pay attention to style and word choice. The more you read, the more you’ll learn.

2.Study writing.

In addition to reading, it’s good to learn the mechanics of writing. Some of us learn it in school. Others learn it by practicing the craft. You can take courses or even read books about writing. There are also great web sites and podcasts out there about writing, like Writing Excuses, and K.M. Weiland’s Helping Writers Become Authors. Don’t be afraid to keep learning.

3.Write often.

Writing is a craft. The more you work at it, the better you get. The most common advice is to write every day. It is true that the more you write, the better you’ll get. Sometimes, though, it’s difficult to make the time. Bring a journal with you and write while you’re getting a coffee, or waiting for the bus. Every moment counts.

4.Be yourself.

When you’re first learning to write, you may want to experiment and write like other writers. It’s fine to imitate them as part of the learning process. But then, you have to give it up. The more you write, the more in touch you’ll get with your own voice. That voice within you is unique and worth discovering.

5.Pay attention.

The most writing brings characters and places to life on the page. Good writers are observers of human nature or places. They look at the world with the eyes of an artist and use words as their medium.

6.Use active verbs.

In his book On Writing, Stephen King says “the road to hell is paved with adverbs.” Eliminate them wherever possible. It’s better for a character to race or dash across the room than to walk quickly.

7.Vary sentence length and structure.

There’s a quote by Gary Provost that explains this so much better than I can:

“This sentence has five words. Here are five more words. Five-word sentences are fine. But several together become monotonous. Listen to what is happening. The writing is getting boring. The sound of it drones. It’s like a stuck record. The ear demands some variety. Now listen. I vary the sentence length, and I create music. Music. The writing sings. It has a pleasant rhythm, a lilt, a harmony. I use short sentences. And I use sentences of medium length. And sometimes, when I am certain the reader is rested, I will engage him with a sentence of considerable length, a sentence that burns with energy and builds with all the impetus of a crescendo, the roll of the drums, the crash of the cymbals–sounds that say listen to this, it is important.”

8.Learn to love revising.

The writing stage is only a quarter of the work of being a writer. New writers can be afraid of editing and revising because it seems like too much work. Or worse, they might break what they’ve written and never be able to fix it. But if you want to be good, you need to learn to revise. It takes a weak story or argument and makes it strong. There are many great resources out there for writers. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King is a good place to start.

9.Get Feedback.

Writers need other writers. Some writers just seek feedback from friends and family, much to their detriment. While it can seem to be the safer bet at first, eventually, you have to break out of that shell and seek out advice from your peers. Nobody knows what a writer is going through as much as another writer. My critique group has taught me more about writing than any writing class. And the relationships can last for years.

10.Read your work aloud.

Reading your work aloud gives you a chance to get a feel for the words and the way they sound. It also helps you to catch your own mistakes. You’ll know if dialog sounds natural, or if the words are clunky and get caught in your mouth. Though you don’t have to read your work in public, bouncing a piece off an audience can help. It will give you an immediate response to your work. You’ll know if it works or not.

I hope you found these tips helpful. If you have your own, please be sure to include them in the comments.

About the Author

A Canadian-born author, Lisa Voisin spent her childhood daydreaming and making up stories, but it was her love of reading and writing in her teens that drew her to Young Adult fiction.

Lisa is also a technical writer, a meditation teacher with the Training in Power Academy, and the leader of the Young Writer’s Club, a local writing group for teens in her home town. A self-proclaimed coffee lover, she can usually be found writing in a local café. When she's not writing, you'll find her meditating or hiking in the mountains to counteract the side effects of drinking too much caffeine!

Though she’s lived in several cities across Canada, she currently lives in Vancouver, B.C. with her fiancé and their two cats.

About Me

I have three currently published short stories (Escaping Rapture which is part of the After Tomorrow anthology, Renee and the Wolf which is part of the Mystical Bites anthology, and The Curse of the Sea). My previously published novel Girl Meets Underworld and As We Lie Dying, a short story, are both being rewritten along with a bunch of other stories that are fighting for my attention. I run A Book Addict's Bookshelves.